He said the angry Albertans who struck up the “lock her up” chorus at an anti-carbon tax rally on the weekend were speaking “symbolically.”

“They had very serious issues, they were angry about what the premier is doing,” Trost said. “But they were not to be taken literally.”

He added “no one in their right minds” would suggest Notley should actually be thrown in jail for not having done anything illegal.

Trost also suggested, despite his tweets, he wouldn’t have outright said “lock her up.”

“I wouldn’t have said that, I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to make a speech like that,” he said. “But the fact is (the protesters) were saying that and they need to be understood for what they meant.”